Freestylers rack up top finishes
<p>Top left, Hunter Lamoureux goes inverted in the Fish Bowl terrain park at Whitefish Mountain Resort. Bottom left, Cole Maxwell leads a pack of riders in a recent boardercross race. Right, Dylan Schneider on the podium.</p>
Three members of Whitefish Mountain Resort’s freestyle ski and snowboard team have been traveling the region this winter racking up top finishes.
10-year-old skier Dylan Schneider has been competing in slopestyle on the Northern Division Freestyle USSA Tour and has finished in first at competitions at Sun Valley, Idaho and Lost Trail. He competes this week at the Freestyle Junior Olympics in Park City, Utah.
14-year-old Hunter Lamoureux has been competing in slopestyle on the Alberta Snowboard Provincial Series. Of three events in two trips to Alberta, all have been top-10 finishes. In February, Lamoureux finished first and dominated the field of 13-15 year-old snowboarders at the Calgary Olympic Park with a run that placed him 10th overall, including the pro’s. He will compete again in Canada in early April.
16-year-old Cole Maxwell has been racking up first-place finishes in slopestyle and boardercross on the USASA Inland Northwest Freeride Tour. He had gold medals in one or both disciplines from Silver Mountain, Idaho, then at 49 Degrees, Ski Bluewood and Mt. Spokane, all in Washington. Maxwell has qualified for USASA Nationals and will compete in boardercross and slopestyle at Copper Mountain, Colo., in early April.
“Along with competitions here at home, we seem to have kids competing everywhere,” says head coach Connie Stanton. “Hunter is dominating his events, and is riding at a level of someone 16 or 17 years old. Cole brings home one or two gold medals every weekend from his competitions, and Dylan will qualify for the National Junior Olympics at only 10 years old.”
“Hunter’s results are very impressive up in Canada, and I look forward to solid performances from Cole and Dylan at their national events.”
The local freestyle team has produced numerous top riders over the years. Alumni include Parkin Costain, who is currently ranked fifth in the International Freeskiing junior division, and Maggie Voisin, who last weekend finished fourth at an FIS World Cup slopestyle competition in Aspen, Colo., which gives her a ranking of 24th in the world.
For more information on the freestyle ski and snowboard program, email freestyle@skiwhitefish.com or call 862-2971.